During the late afternoon session of the NASW workshop “Rising above the noise: using statistics-based reporting,” moderated and organized by Kathleen Raven, an expert panel of statisticians and journalists discussed using statistics to assess the validity and impact of new scientific research findings.
Event coverage
Coverage begins in 2006 for the ScienceWriters meeting and 2009 for the AAAS meeting. To see programs for past ScienceWriters meetings, go to the ScienceWriters meeting site.
Like most freelancers, Alla Katsnelson and Amy Maxmen struggle with blurry lines. “It’s not clear how hard and fast are the rules” of freelancer ethics, Katsnelson opened. “How and when do you disclose conflicts of interest when pitching?” Often each situation is a judgment call and may be handled by editors and publications in different ways.
It wasn’t a review of the latest news in cosmology or a lesson on how underweight folks could put on pounds, but “Take a Lesson from the Universe: Expand” did provide a valuable session for science writers, editors and PIOs looking to broaden their communication outreach to non-scientists.
The ScienceWriters2013 Awards Gala on Saturday night celebrated some of the finest science journalism of the past year. Winners represented the whole range of media, from book to blog to radio. Science in Society Journalism Awards were given in five categories: book, science reporting, longform science reporting, science reporting for a local or regional market, and commentary and opinion.
Let words collide. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Jesus wept. The queen, my lord, is dead. Collision is power and power rests in brevity. This was the message journalist and teacher Roy Peter Clark delivered to attendees over the course of a winding ride at a ScienceWriters2013 session on Nov 2.
In the film "Starship Troopers," humans battle a marauding race of aliens sometime in Earth's distant future. Along with a militaristic vision, the film portrays the aliens as super-sized insects — a particularly frustrating point for Emory emeritus physics professor Sidney Perkowitz.
You won’t find a website for most of these shadowy, mysterious groups with names like “VSG” and “the Posse.” They’ve been compared to terrorist cells, secret societies, and tribes; membership is highly selective and tightly controlled. Fortunately, these groups are comprised of science writers (and the occasional editor), not terrorists. At ScienceWriters2013, four science writers explained the benefits of forming these so-called “tribes.”
What’s Courtney Love have to do with science writing? Well, she’s the poster child for the perils of defamatory speech on social media. (She recently settled for $430,000 after a series of online slurs appeared in her Twitter feed.) At a Saturday afternoon session on social media and the law, the panel’s take-home message was simple: No matter how short the story, you’re not exempt from legal challenge.
Three science communicators from government agencies shared savvy strategies for communicating science research to the public and policy makers on Saturday afternoon at ScienceWriters2013 in Gainesville, FL. Although they were talking about their experiences promoting federally-funded research, their tips proved valuable to anyone — public information officers, scientists, or educators — involved in science outreach and communication.
The Open Notebook has collected the thoughts of a half-dozen editors who took queries during the popular Pitch Slam at ScienceWriters2012. The six — Laura Helmuth, Amanda Moon, David Corcoran, Beth Quill, Susannah Locke, and Tasha Eichenseher — discuss what they look for (one word: "voice") and whether they prefer short or long queries: "Finally, remember that the best way to figure out what editors are looking for is to read the publication."